Edgar F. Merrill

Edgar was born December 17, 1926, in Grand Forks, North Dakota, the first of two children born to Edgar Emmet and Dora Maud Lines Merrill. Shortly thereafter, the family moved to Denver, Colorado where Ed grew up.

During his youth, Ed was a member of the Olinger Highlander Boys Organization, a local boys’ organization, similar to the Boy Scouts, formed by a local funeral home director. The purpose of the organization was to instill in its members the virtues of kindness, purity, truth, justice, fair play, promptness, obedience, neatness, courtesy, maintaining a positive attitude, and defending the weak. Ed rose to the rank of colonel in the Highlanders, and maintained that the values instilled in him by that organization helped him immeasurably in gaining admission into the U.S. Navy’s selective V-12 program.

Edgar graduated from North Denver High School on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), and attended the University of Colorado under the Navy’s V-12 program. The Navy told those in the V-12 program not to get too comfortable with college life, because when the invasion of Japan came, they would all be in on it. As it turned out, that never happened, and Ed’s military career consisted mainly of 20+ years in the Naval Reserve.

One Sunday, while attending Denver’s Central Presbyterian Church, Ed met the love of his life, Harriet Margaret Gallagher. A courtship followed and they were married in that same church in August, 1948, a marriage which lasted until Harriet’s passing in December, 2002. Three sons were born from that marriage.

Edgar graduated from The University of Colorado in May, 1948 with a degree in electrical engineering and accepted employment with Westinghouse Electric Company at its East Pittsburgh Works, Large Rotating Apparatus Division, in 1948. During his early years at Westinghouse, Ed attended night school at the University of Pittsburgh, earning his MSEE in 1954. In addition, Ed became an active member in the IEEE and authored or coauthored nearly 2 dozen papers in the field of AC motor design. In November, 1978, Ed was transferred to Westinghouse’s Heavy Industry Motor Division in Round Rock, Texas, where he continued to design and field service motors. On December, 31, 1988, Ed retired from Westinghouse, just shy of 40 years with the company. The apex of his engineering career came in 1999 when Ed was elected a fellow in the IEEE “for contributions to the development and design of alternating current motors,” the title of “Fellow” being bestowed on no more than one tenth of one percent of the IEEE membership – he was literally “one in a thousand.”

In retirement, for about 10 years, Edgar did consulting work as well as working as a volunteer in the Auxiliary at St. David’s Medical Center, along with his wife Harriet. Each accrued more than 10,000 hours of volunteer work while on the auxiliary.

In his spare time, Edgar was a proud, unapologetic, and active member of the Masonic Fraternity and its appendant bodies. Ed was raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason in East Liberty Lodge #725, F. & A.M., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1960. He served that lodge as Worshipful Master in 1967 and again in 1973, the latter year being that lodge’s 50th anniversary year. Ed was the first person to serve that lodge as master more than once. He was also held membership in the Pittsburgh Scottish Rite Bodies. Upon arriving in Texas, Ed transferred his memberships to Colorado Lodge #96, A.F. & A.M. in Webberville, TX and the Austin Scottish Rite Bodies. In addition, he became a member of the Ben Hur Shrine in Austin and was a member of Ben Hur’s Provost Guard. In 2010, Ed was presented with his 50 year membership pin in Masonry.

Edgar was a devout and active member of St. Andrew’s Anglican Catholic Church of Round Rock, Texas, serving as Vestry member, Rector’s Warden, server, and lay reader.

Edgar is survived by his sister, Doris LaFleur of Denver, Colorado; 2 sons, Frank H. Merrill and his wife Rita, of Denver, Colorado, and Raymond B. Merrill of Lago Vista, Texas; one granddaughter, Laura Merrill Skinner and her husband Adam, also of Denver, Colorado; and three nephews. He was predeceased by his wife, Harriet G. Merrill in December, 2002, and one son, Edgar Gibson “Gibby” Merrill in June, 1955.

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, February 14, 2012, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Cook Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home, 14501 North IH-35, Pflugerville, Texas. A memorial service in thanksgiving for the life of Edgar Frank Merrill will be held on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at Cook Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home, 14501 North IH-35, Pflugerville, TX at 1:00 pm, The Right Reverend Arlen Jones officiating. Interment and Masonic graveside services under the auspices of Colorado Lodge #96 will follow immediately thereafter in the Masonic section of Capital Memorial Park. For those wishing to do so, the family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to The Shriners Hospital for Children Burn Unit, 815 Market Street, Galveston, Texas 77550-2725.

To share memories of Mr. Merrill with the family, please visit www.cookwaldencapitalparks.com